The Truth about Teeth Cleaning and Deep Tooth Cleaning

Teeth cleaning is the most beneficial thing you can do to your teeth to minimize dentist visits. Most people have been teeth brushing twice to thrice a day since childhood. But because teeth brushing is such a daily routine few people actually stop and think about the proper way of doing it.

Professional dental care alone, however, is inadequate to prevent periodontal diseases. Smoking has been implicated in approximately 50% of periodontal disease cases in adults. Abstaining from tobacco use, maintaining good oral hygiene, and having your teeth cleaned professionally are the most effective ways to prevent periodontal diseases.

A professional tooth cleaning happens in a doctor’s office. When a dentist or dental hygienist cleans your teeth they remove soft and hard deposits from your teeth that cause cavities. The main reason of having your teeth cleaned is to prevent or delay the progression of gum diseases.

When a dentist or dental hygienist cleans your teeth they remove soft (plaque) and hard (tartar, calculus, or stains) deposits from your teeth. The primary purpose of having your teeth cleaned is to prevent or delay the progression of periodontal diseases.

Frequency of Tooth Cleaning

The frequency of professional teeth cleaning depends on the health of your teeth and gums, for example healthy children and adults should have their teeth cleaned at least once every year or two. If you’re a smoker or have a tendency to get gum infections you should visit your dentist more often. It’s a good idea to actually ask your dentist how often you should visit their office.

Reasons for Tooth Cleaning

Tooth cleaning can help prevent oral cancer. According to The Oral Cancer Foundation, someone dies from oral cancer, every hour of every day in the United States alone. When you have your dental cleaning, your dentist is also screening you for oral cancer, which is highly curable if diagnosed early.

If diagnosed early, gum disease can be treated and reversed. Gum disease is an infection in the gum tissues and bone that keep your teeth in place and is one of the leading causes of adult tooth loss. If treatment is not received, a more serious and advanced stage of gum disease may follow. Regular dental cleanings and check ups, flossing daily and brushing twice a day are key factors in preventing gum disease.

During tooth cleaning your dental hygienist can remove most tobacco, coffee and tea stains. Your hygienist will also polish your teeth to a beautiful shine. The result is a whiter and brighter smile!

Why Deep Tooth Cleaning Needed?

When there are deep pockets along the tooth roots due to bone recession it is impossible for the patient to properly clean and keep the gum tissue free of inflammation. A deep cleaning is necessary to remove the inflammation and debris and sometimes this would be done prior to gum surgery.

One’s patient testimonial:

I just had a deep cleaning on three quadrants. If you are told you need it, it’s because they need to get beneath the gums where you cannot reach with dental floss or toothbrush and where your regular hygienist usually doesn’t go when you get your teeth cleaned biannually. It didn’t hurt for me. In fact, I felt like my gums were getting massaged, and I liked that feeling. If your gums/teeth are more sensitive than mine, you can get anesthetic applied. It may take a little longer and cost a little more (may not be covered by insurance).

I would definitely recommend doing it to guard against further decay and gum disease. If you don’t do it, you take the risk of bacteria continuing to build, possible inflammation and tenderness, and then your body’s immune system reacting to the presence of bacteria. I have also had periodontal surgery, and you don’t want to go there!

Cost of Tooth Cleaning

If you haven’t dental insurance tooth cleaning process can cost for you somewhere about $70-$150, with dental plan it can be more then twice cheaper. It depends from region and quality of tooth cleaning and used materials.

I have fixed my fron tooth 13 years ago and i never had problems but now they changed the color they got the yellow color and it bothers me a lot when i smile because they look so bad, i do have a good frame just the color is not white as it needs to be…

Can you please tell about going to the hygenist for the cleaning of veneers. Can they be damaged in the process? If so, how. What do we look out for, these veneers cost over $30,000 and my dentist moved so I need to find another office.
I want to be certain my veneers will be treated with the correct instruments, products and technique. Also, what is the best way to take stains out of veneers from green tea? Thank you!

The best way to get your teeth with veneers cleaned is LASER teeth cleaning. I speak from experience. I also have venners and other cleaning techniques don’t even compare to the effectivness of the laser cleaning plus it only takes about 15 minutes. Find a dentist that specializes in cosmetic dentistry.

In December of 2009, I experience infections in the gum area and had to take antibodicts every 6 hours for seven day. My regular dentist referred me to a Periodontics. I have a dentist appointment tomorrow to review for deep cleaning of the teeth and I am very worried if it is going to hurt my mouth. Please explain to me exactly what deep cleaning involves.

This is my first time having this type of treatment performed. My brush my teeth daily and brush with peroxide once or twice a month.

My question is about Deep Cleaning: Is it nessasary? Is it a scam? Is over $1000.00 with half of it being paid by my wife’s insurance TOTALLY unreasonable?? And,can I get this done at a dental school for free or for a much smaler out of pocket ammount?
Thank you for any information you can give me, I know nothing about this subject and would appreciate any information you can give me. I live in Las Vegas. What dental schools might be available here?

I really think that a lot of dentists just encourage everone to get the deep cleaning even if they do not need it. The reason I say this is twice in the last 25 years I have been told by two dentists in Florida that I really need it done and yet my full time dentist in another state has said my teeth are fine and I do not need a deep cleaning. It’s sad but I think there are a lot of greedy dentists in FL. Also, stay away from Rubino’s office, the girls there cannot property do general teeth cleanings, they poked me repeatedly in the gum w/ sharp instruments and then tried to blame it on my gums. Never had any pain at other places.

In VA I was told a deep cleaning is $1200 – come on!
I understand the credentials of the Dentist but
when you offer a $1200 treatment plus a chance to
buy a waterpik and electirc toothbrush on the way out (by the way, New on Ebay for $70 vs $160 in the office)
markup is a little too high for me.

My wife had her teeth and gums scaled several times. Each time she developed bacterial infections followed by treatment of antibiotics. This has made her decide to not have regular cleanings. Consequently, she now has a massive infection and is now taking antibiotics and the dentist has recommended she see a oral surgeon to remove her upper teeth and get dentures. I would think it wise for her to seek a second opinion from a periodontist before considering such a drastic measure.

deep cleaning is it nessasary, and is it really that expense? i just had my teeth check two days ago and dentis sed i need a deep cleaning cost is $420.00 for my part. and a hold lot of other thing i don,t remember right now, the total for my part will be around $1500.00. Now i haven had my teethe clean in 17years but i brush twice a day evertday. so is this reassomble?

Deep cleanings are needed when bacterial plaque builds up below your gumline. Plaque underneath the gums are difficult to remove with a toothbrush or floss and the plaque eventually becomes calcified and is now tartar. The tartar is made of the same crystals that make up your tooth enamel and therefore it is very difficult to remove. As a dental hygienist there are clinical signs that must be evident in order for me to diagnose the need of a deep cleaning. The clinical signs are:
1) INFECTION in the mouth such as red, puffy gums that easily bleed when provoked. Healthy gums will NOT bleed.
2) Bone loss measured by a periodontal probe. The bone loss has to be generalized and with measurements in the 4-6 mm range or higher. A full quadrant consists of 6 teeth or more. If only 1-3 teeth in a quadrant have bone loss ranging from 4-6mm or higher than only those teeth would need a deep cleaning, not the entire quadrant.
3) Tartar and build-up under the gumline. This is determined by an explorer. Hygienists are highly trained to detect tartar under the gumline by using tactile sensitivity. Also, if the tartar has been there for many years you may be ably to see it on the x-ray. Ask your hygienist if they can see the tartar on the x-ray. If they can’t, this doesn’t mean it is not there. Tartar has many different forms, it can be in sheets, grainy, or chunky. It can also be white, black, or green. It all depends how long it has been there.

The most important thing about deep cleanings are removing the infection and getting the gums back to a healthy state, especially since now gum disease has a direct connection with diabetes, heart disease, and low birth weight babies, as well as other systemic disease. (see wikipedia for more info on the oral-systemic link)

I hope this information helps. If you think your dentist or hygienist is lying or tricking you then I am very sorry to hear that. I always try and educate my patients as much as possible. I’ll even take out a piece of the tartar and show them so they know I’m not lying to them. All I want is to help my patient achieve good oral health.

Connie – I’m in Florida too. Moved here not too long ago and my first dentist visit was NOT fun. I have visited the dentist twice a year (without problems) since I’ve had teeth (I am 40 now). Now, in Florida, all of a sudden I need a deep cleaning at $2000 of which they say insurance will pay $1300 and they REFUSED to give me a regular cleaning! They say that because they have decided it is a deep cleaning that I need they cannot give me a regular cleaning. Nice, huh?!?

I have had the deep cleaning and it did nothing for me. All they did was take a drill under the gum line which is something they should do with any cleaning. They said we will do a quadrant at a time and numb you up. I said try it without numbing since I don’t like that. They did, and I had no pain whatsoever. They did my entire mouth and I came back another day and they did the same. A couple years later they said I needed it and I told the hygienist I couldn’t afford it so she did it anyway without saying anything. But my gums were no better than after regular cleaning.

My dentist office took my dental insurance card and researched what my insurance would pay for annually. Isn’t it funny that they decided I need 4 regular cleanings and 2 deep cleanings (which is exactly the total cleanings my insurance covered)and they wanted to schedule the cleanings weekly for 6 weeks.
They then wondered why I cancelled my next appt. and never went back to that dentist. They called and asked me why I was no longer a patient and I told them I did not appreciate them defrauding my insurance with unnecessary treatments.

RE: Kathy – Nov 7th
I too just came from the dentist (Aspen Dental), they said they could not give me a regular cleaning unless I let them do the deep cleaning. My cost would be over $600, and the insurance would pay the rest. I told them I wanted to decline the deep cleaning, and just make an appt for a regular cleaning. They told me they could not help me. It is rediculous that the patient cannot decline and sign a waiver. I am acually thinking of dropping my insurance, and just go to a small dentist office. The insurance providers are only the big names.
The reason I went to Aspen was because my other dentist, Coast Dental, is always pushing me to get a crown. They said that I have a tooth with a very large filling, and they are afraid it will crack. However, I am not having any problems with the filling (which I have had for years), or the tooth. At least they give me the option of declining!

I had a deep gum clean done 4 months ago and found it to be totally worth it!
Prior to getting the deep gum clean i was not flossing and suffered bad breath and bleeding gums. As a result I lost two teeth. After the clean and useing a mouth wash called Savacol for ten days I found a big difference straight away!! I no longer had a unpleasent taste in my mouth nor did I have bleeding gums and bad breath. The dentist did it in two sessions costing me $152 Australian dollars per session. If only I knew that this procedure excisted I would of had it done sooner which would of saved me money and pain.(I was getting my teeth cleaned every 6 months but not the deep gum clean). My dentist said I should get the deep gum clean done every 3 months,this is to expensive for me. I now floss I feel that my gums are in good condition so I will be getting the deep gum clean done twice a year and see how that goes. Being 34 years old I found it to be shocking that i lost two teeth and had to folk out $4,000 for an implant! I think it’s worth Investing the time and money for this procedure once you lose a tooth its gone forever!

I was at the dentist today. After x ray and an exam they said i needed a deep cleaning. They were charging me 2000 dollars, i didnt have that money so i told them to do just the one side. They charged me 1,000. Is this cost normal or it is so expensive? I have been reading that deep teeth cleaning cost 800-1600 dollars. And i still didn’t get my teeth so white…

I had half a deep cleaning today cost is $596 per side. The procedure sounds more scarey than it is. They numbed my gums used a tool like Dremel extension and buffed my teeth below the gums. There was scale flying out of my mouth at times.

The numbness has worn off, the side they cleaned doesn’t hurt at all. Two weeks from now they’ll do the other side plus do filling and extract a wisdom tooth. Two weeks ago they extracted a cracked molar. They did job excellent job on that.

I think its a big scam. The measurements used are generated by the hygienist, entered manually into the computer, and are subjective to her/his agenda. Im sure they want to make as much money for the office as possible and I’m equally sure that they are trained in the art of sales. I’m not paying 1200 bucks for a teeth cleaning. I moved to Florida recently and my new dentist told me I needed this done. I said no, and either clean them or I was going somewhere else. They cleaned my teeth and did a fine job.My insurance payed for it all.

I had my teeth cleaned today after waiting almost 2 years. Now they tell me I need a deep cleaning 1-3 Quad. Then they say I need them checked every 3 months. I always had them cleaned every 6-12 months. Is this every 3 months necessary? They call it Periodontal maintenance.

Follow up: The second ½ of the deep cleaning went well. $596 X 2 for my entire mouth. No, pain afterward. Funny or awkward thing I received a coupon from DentalWorks for free “professional” at home teeth whitening system. Presented it over $700 dollars no still no kit? I’ll press them next time.

Had wisdom tooth extracted afterward, that mother fricker was sore. A lot of “excess tissue” come out. Different dentists have told me different opinions on whether wisdom teeth should come out. Still have three, have had them for 35 years plus.

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